Equity firm now has Éilan property

Updated 8:17 pm, Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Éilan, the sprawling development across from The Rim shopping center, has a new owner.

Private equity firm Lone Star Funds said Wednesday that it has closed on a deal for the 120-acre mixed-use property with Wereldhave, the Netherlands-based company that developed the project.

The North Side property near Interstate 10 and Loop 1604 was one of 20 U.S. properties that Lone Star Funds acquired in the deal, which was worth $720 million, according to a company news release.

With the acquisition, Wereldhave completes its sell-off of U.S. properties, a strategy it announced last year to turn around declining performance. The company has said it will focus on development in Western Europe.

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Last year, Éilan was assessed at nearly $170 million, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.

The luxury development features 539 apartments, a 165-room hotel, more than 34,000 square feet of retail space, and 205,000 square feet of office space.

Studios and apartments from one- to three bedrooms are available. The residential portion of the development is nearly 65 percent occupied. About half the existing office space is occupied, and there are two retail tenants, officials said.

Though there's still some space to fill, it is performing well, said Kim Gatley, a vice president at commercial real estate firm NAI REOC. As one of the newer high-end, mixed-use properties in San Antonio, its location has helped it gain traction in the market.

“Being one of the newer properties delivered to the San Antonio market, it obviously enjoys and commands the higher tier of rental rates,” she said. “Most people would perceive it was off to a slow start. But that was due to when it was delivered to the market, in the midst of a down cycle. But in the last few quarters, we've seen an uptick in activity there.”